Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Soggy open

I'm sure the U-S Open will be returning to Bethpage Black in a decade or so but this just completed tournament was so ho-hum it may not deserve one. Most of the drama was taken out of the U-S Open due to 3 rain plagued days on Long Island. It never seemed like the event gained any momentum. Lucas Glover won the trophy but the rain tarnished it a bit.

Phil Mickelson is a Hall of Famer but he certainly has let a lot of opportunities slip away. Lefty has finished 2nd a record 5 times at U-S Opens. The loss on Monday, at the Long Island muni, came for an unlikely reason. Mickelson is famously known for his blocked drive at Winged Foot in 2006. Monday it was his putter. Mickelson missed a 4 footer on 15 and a 3 footer on 17 for bogeys essentially ending his bid for his first U.S Open title. I'm sure as he takes some time off, to be with his wife Amy while she undergoes breast cancer treatment, he will be reliving those missed putts. In the scheme of things I'm sure he would trade a completely healthy Amy for those 2 putts.

The other intriguing story to come out of Bethpage is the possible resurrection of David Duval. The former World #1 also missed a key putt down the stretch that would have given him the lead. Duval has fallen to close to 900 in the world since he won the British Open in 2001. His fall has been well documented. Duval has been getting better of late but couldn't put together 4 good rounds to save his tour card. He did it this weekend on a very difficult track...the question is can he do it again this weekend on the PGA tour.